Obama promotes steps to boost U.S. trade

Associated Press

February 17, 2012

EVERETT, Wash. — President Barack Obama on Friday called for more steps to help U.S. companies compete overseas, standing in front of an enormous Boeing Dreamliner to summon a bright future for American manufacturing and exports.

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Visiting a Boeing plant and its workers in Washington state where he watched some of the massive 787s under assembly, Obama pushed for Congress to continue financing a national export credit agency crucial to a goal of doubling exports by 2014. He pointed to the aviation giant as a homegrown company bolstering the U.S. economy by doing business overseas as he sought to make the case that the nation's economy is on the rise.

“The tide is turning. The tide is beginning to turn our way,” Obama said in the cavernous Boeing plant.

Obama's visit was highly orchestrated to portray the strength of American manufacturing, set in a massive facility where the aviation giant builds the new 787 Dreamliner. After inspecting the aircraft, Obama emerged from the back of a behemoth white Dreamliner to deliver his remarks, walking down the red-carpeted stairs as “Hail to the Chief” blared on overhead speakers.

“You're the most productive on earth. You can compete with anybody. You will outwork anybody,” Obama told the assembled workers. “As long as the playing field is level, you can compete with any worker, anywhere, anytime, in China, in Europe, it does not matter. If we have a level playing field, America will always win, because we have the best workers.”

The president announced steps to offer financing to U.S. companies to match help their foreign competitors get, with the goal of helping American industries compete.

Obama's remarks came at the end of a three-day trip that included heavy fundraising along the West Coast and a stop at a Milwaukee padlock manufacturer.

Facing re-election, Obama has pointed to a decline in unemployment and touted a recent boost in manufacturing jobs as an indicator of an economy on the mend. Republicans seeking the White House have accused Obama of failing to steer the economy out of a deep recession.

In addition to the trade announcement, Obama was holding two fundraisers in the Seattle area before heading back to Washington, D.C.

Obama reported Friday that he had raised $29.1 million for his campaign and the Democratic Party in January, putting him ahead of the pace he set in the last quarter of 2011. Obama had raised about $250 million through the end of January.

Obama's visit to the Boeing plant comes a few months after the National Labor Relations Board dropped a high-profile lawsuit against the company over allegations it built a nonunion plant in South Carolina to retaliate against past union strikes in Washington state. The president did not mention the case, and spokesman Jay Carney said his visit had nothing to do with it. A Boeing spokesman also said there was no connection.